SOXTALK'S TOP 50 FUNNIEST MOVIES

[SoxFan562004]

the entire scene at the baseball game is 20 minutes of continual laughing for me....

 

boo to wedding crashers...overrated IMO

I love the blooper reel they run. When the big cat comes and mauls the guy or the car runs over the player, I laugh out loud every time.

 

I'm with you on wedding crashers, it was good when I first saw it, but for me it didn't hold up.

[SoxFan562004]

I've just never seen a movie that had so many different characters make me laugh so f***in hard outloud.

 

All the main characters have their own parts that crack you up. But Leslie Mann as the drunk who pukes on Andy cracked me up...The Boss lady cracked me up. Mooj and Haziz, the worker peeps are hysterical. The little hard ass dude that comes in to the store and f***s with Jay. Beth at the book store. The Jew fro kid at the sex ed thing....Jonah hill buying the boots....I can go on and on.....there are just so many people that make you laugh out loud it's insane.

 

If this was top comedy it may not have been my #1, but as far as funniest....I can't remember laughing that hard, while not under the influence, at anything in my life.

My friends and I love to say "f'n french toast" when we're hungry, it cracks us up everytime

[Controlled Chaos]

My friends and I love to say "f'n french toast" when we're hungry, it cracks us up everytime

The line of hers that's my favorite is "That f***er came out of nowhere!!"

 

Wedding Crashers still does it for me when I see it....

[Felix]

As this list gets closer and closer to the top, I find it more and more unlikely that one of my favorite movies that's categorized as a comedy (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) is going to be here

Edited April 23, 2008 by Felix

[kjshoe04]

I'm with you on wedding crashers, it was good when I first saw it, but for me it didn't hold up.

Same thought I had.

[BobDylan]

Mrs. Robinson, if you don't mind my saying so, this conversation is getting a little strange.

 

25. (tie) The Graduate (1967)

 

 

This movie should be at least in the top 5. I didn't make a list. I didn't want to think about it too much. But The Graduate has done so much for film, it's almost a disservice to see it tied with AUSTIN POWERS.

Edited April 23, 2008 by BobDylan

[BobDylan]

If this [40 Year Old Virgin] is only ranked 18th, the whole system is out of whack.

 

I'd say the reverse. If this movie is even listed, the system is out of whack. It's nothing more than a popcorn movie.

Edited April 23, 2008 by BobDylan

[Texsox]

This movie should be at least in the top 5. I didn't make a list. I didn't want to think about it too much. But The Graduate has done so much for film, it's almost a disservice to see it tied with AUSTIN POWERS.

It was on today. I forgot how amazing Hoffman is in the movie.

[vandy125]

It was on today. I forgot how amazing Hoffman is in the movie.

 

Haven't seen it, and that is why it was not on my list. Looks like I should sometime.

[ChWRoCk2]

Spinal Tap, definitely should've been on my list.

 

I like where hes showing the reporter that green guitar and hes like don't touch it, then guy points at it and hes like dont point at it, matter of fact don't look at it.

 

 

 

I call redo, I now realize how bad my list was.

[Texsox]

Haven't seen it, and that is why it was not on my list. Looks like I should sometime.

 

As I was watching the point that this is a comedy, not a lol movie, was proven.

[Milkman delivers]

It's the funniest movies thread. The 40-Year-Old Virgin is funnier than The Graduate. The Graduate, much like Dr. Strangelove, is a damn good movie that's considered a comedy (clearly better than Virgin), but they sure as hell aren't funnier.

[Controlled Chaos]

I'd say the reverse. If this movie is even listed, the system is out of whack. It's nothing more than a popcorn movie.

It's a movie that made me spit my popcorn all over the place...multiple times.

 

While The Graduate is a good film and made me chuckle at times....I see it more as a drama. It just didn't make me crack up and this was a top funniest movie list.

[Felix]

I'd say the reverse. If this movie is even listed, the system is out of whack. It's nothing more than a popcorn movie.

The real tragedy is "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" being behind movies like "Wedding Crashers". I keep waiting to see "Airplane!" listed.. hopefully my waiting for it means that its ranked incredibly high, and isn't just left off the list.

[Texsox]

The real tragedy is "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" being behind movies like "Wedding Crashers". I keep waiting to see "Airplane!" listed.. hopefully my waiting for it means that its ranked incredibly high, and isn't just left off the list.

 

PT&A was one that had me pounding my forehead for leaving off my list. After the full list is reveiled, I'd love to be able to rerank the movies.

[knightni]

In case anyone is wondering, I'm not where my lists are.

[knightni]

Give him a sedagive?!

 

14. Young Frankenstein (1974)

 

 

(5 of 23 lists - 80 points - highest ranking #2 FlaSoxxJim)

 

Young Frankenstein is a 1974 comedy film directed by Mel Brooks, starring Gene Wilder as the title character. Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, and Gene Hackman also star. The screenplay was written by Brooks and Wilder.

 

The film is an affectionate parody of the classical horror film genre, in particular the various film adaptations of Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein produced by Universal in the 1930s. This is reflected by the fact that most of the pieces of lab equipment used as props are the same ones created by Kenneth Strickfaden for the 1931 film Frankenstein. To further reflect the atmosphere of the earlier films, Brooks shot the picture entirely in black-and-white, a rare choice at the time, and employed 1930s-style opening credits and period scene transitions such as iris outs, wipes, and fades to black. The film also features a notable period score by Brooks' longtime composer John Morris.

 

Frederick Frankenstein is a respected lecturer at an American medical school and is more or less happily (though blandly) engaged to the tightly wound Elizabeth. Frederick becomes exasperated when anyone brings up the subject of his grandfather, the famous mad scientist, to the point of insisting that his name is actually pronounced "Fronk-en-steen".

 

A solicitor informs Frederick that he has inherited his family's estate. Traveling to said estate in Transylvania, Frankenstein meets his comely new lab assistant Inga, along with the household servants Frau Blücher and Igor (who, after hearing Frederick claim his name is pronounced "Fronkensteen" counter-claims that his is pronounced "Eye-gor.")

 

Inga assists Frederick in discovering the secret entrance to his grandfather's laboratory. Upon reading his grandfather's private journals the doctor is inspired to resume his grandfather's experiments in re-animating the dead. He and Igor successfully exhume and spirit away the enormous corpse of a recently executed criminal, but Igor's attempt to steal the brain of a revered scientist from the local "brain depository" goes awry, and he takes one labeled, "Do Not Use This Brain! Abnormal" instead.

 

The doctor and reassembled monster are elevated on a platform to the roof of the laboratory during a lightning storm. The experimenters are first disappointed when the electrically charged creature fails to come to life, but the reassembled monster eventually revives. The doctor assists the monster in walking but, frightened by Igor lighting a match, it attacks Frederick and must be sedated. Upon being asked by the doctor whose brain was obtained, Igor confesses that he supplied "Abby Normal's" brain and becomes the subject of a strangulation attempt himself.

 

Meanwhile, the local townspeople are uneasy at the possibility of Frederick continuing his grandfather's work. Most concerned is Inspector Kemp, who sports an eyepatch, a jointed and extremely creaky wooden arm, and an accent so thick even his own countrymen cannot understand him. Kemp visits the doctor and demands assurance that he will not create another monster. Upon returning to the lab, Frederick discovers that Frau Blücher is setting the creature free; she then plays the violin to show that he loves music. After she reveals her romantic relationship to Frederick's grandfather, the creature is enraged by sparks from a thrown switch, and escapes from the Frankenstein castle.

 

While roaming the countryside, the monster has frustrating encounters with a young girl and a blind hermit; these scenes directly parody ones from the original Frankenstein movies. After recapturing the monster, Frederick wins him over with flattery, and finally fully acknowledges his heritage. After a period of training, he offers some illustrious guests the sight of "The Creature" following simple commands. The demonstration continues with Frederick and the monster launching into the musical number "Puttin' on the Ritz", complete with top hats and tails, which ends disastrously when a stage light breaks and frightens the monster into running into the audience where he is captured and chained by police.

 

He later escapes again, then kidnaps and ravishes the not-unwilling Elizabeth after she arrives unexpectedly for a visit. Elizabeth falls in love with the creature due to his inhuman stamina and his "enormous schwanzstucker".

 

The townspeople, led by Inspector Kemp, hunt for the monster. Desperate to get the creature back and correct his mistakes, Frederick plays music and lures the monster back to the castle. Just as the Kemp-led mob storms the laboratory, Dr. Frankenstein transfers some of his stabilizing intellect to the creature who, as a result, is able to reason with and placate the mob. The film ends happily, with Elizabeth married to the now erudite and sophisticated monster, while Inga joyfully learns what her new husband Frederick got in return from the monster during the transfer procedure.

. . .

 

Young Frankenstein is number 28 on Total Film Magazine's "List of the 50 Greatest Comedy Films of All Time", number 56 on Bravo television network's list of the "100 Funniest Movies", and number 13 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 funniest American movies.[2]

 

In 2003, it was deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by the United States National Film Preservation Board, and selected for preservation in the Library of Congress National Film Registry.

 

When the film was in theaters, the band Aerosmith was working on its third studio album, Toys in the Attic. The members of the band had written the music for a song but couldn't come up with any lyrics to go with it. After a while, they decided to take a break and see Young Frankenstein, where the "Walk This Way" gag provided the basis (or phrase) for the Aerosmith hit "Walk This Way".

 

The dramatic sting heard from John Morris' score early in the picture serves the background music from the viral video "Dramatic Chipmunk" (or "Dramatic Prairie Dog").

 

Brooks has adapted the film into a musical of the same name. The musical premiered in Seattle at the Paramount Theatre and ran from August 7–September 1, 2007.[7] The musical opened on Broadway at the Hilton Theatre on November 8, 2007.

[knightni]

You're my boy, Blue!

 

13. Old School (2003)

 

 

(7 of 23 lists - 89 points - highest ranking #1 shipps)

 

Old School is a comedy motion picture released by DreamWorks SKG in 2003, about three thirty-somethings who seek to re-live their college days by starting a fraternity, and the tribulations they encounter in doing so. The film, which stars Luke Wilson (Mitch), Vince Vaughn (Beanie) and Will Ferrell (Frank), was directed by Todd Phillips and written by Phillips, Scot Armstrong, and Court Crandall.

 

Mitch, the protagonist, comes back from a business trip early and is shocked to find out that his girlfriend Heidi takes part in orgies with a variety of people. She claims it’s purely sexual but nevertheless Mitch doesn’t want to continue the relationship. As a result, he rents a house on a college campus.

 

Mitch encounters his high school crush, Nicole, at his friend Frank’s wedding party. However, he doesn’t make a good impression with her in his inebriated state by spilling hot coffee on her. Mitch’s other best friend Bernard throws a party for Mitch so that he could get his mind off his ex-girlfriend. Called Mitch-a-palooza, the rapper Snoop Dogg performs Eric B & Rakim's track Paid in Full at the large house party. This party is a huge success and also puts Mitch and his friends at the top of the college social scene. During the party, Frank gets drunk and goes streaking through the neighborhood and is caught by his new wife, straining their relationship.

 

The next morning, the guys meet Dean Pritchard. The Dean is a childhood acquaintance of the three men, but since he was the butt of most of their pranks, his actions throughout the movie are vindictively rooted. Pritchard happily informs them that the house is specifically designated for social services and community housing. Therefore, Mitch, Frank, and Bernard must either move out or fulfill the Dean’s criteria in order to keep Mitch’s house. For this reason, it is Bernard’s idea to start a fraternity that is open to anyone. Although Mitch is initially reluctant to accept the notion of turning his house into a fraternity, he is essentially obliged to agree with the idea. The fraternity thrives from the start, an initiation rite involving certain lengths of rope, with one end tied to thirty-pound cinderblocks and the other tied to each initiant's genitalia, and a procedure wherein each initiant must drop his cinderblock from a high building precipice, and which is supposed to symbolize each initiant's trust--that the ropes are long enough to allow each cinderblock to reach the ground below with rope length to spare. One initiant (Jerod Mixon), however, has an unfortunate, and ostensibly unplanned, experience involving a loose manhole cover and a deep vertical access shaft. Mitch gets coined "the Godfather". He still tries to keep his work life and fraternity life apart. Regardless, he is approached by countless people even at work who want to become members of his fraternity. The fraternity is an outlet for the stress and boredom that is associated with the monotonous nine-to-five lifestyle for many members.

 

However, the guys’ dreams are constrained. The death of one of the fraternity members certainly doesn’t help matters, but the main obstacle is still Dean Pritchard. The fraternity is boarded up by the Dean because he claims the group violated an assortment of university policies. He also claims that the students who participated in the non-sanctioned fraternity are subject to expulsion. Nonetheless, Mitch finds out that the group has the right to bypass this legality by completing a series of activities that range from academics and athletics to community service, debate and school spirit. The men are able to complete all of the activities successfully but since the deceased member of the fraternity was still on their roster, the group’s averages were brought down. Consequently, Dean Pritchard tells them the university’s decision stands.

 

Frank is able to obtain a tape that reveals the Dean bribing a female student with admission to Columbia Law School (a promise the Dean happily broke when she confronted him after the school rejects her) since she is head of the student board that approved of the fraternity's campus status. Accordingly, the Dean’s credibility is destroyed. With this fact, it is hard for the university to withhold their decision and they decide to reinstate the fraternity’s charter. In addition, the fraternity’s old house is replaced with Dean Pritchard’s house (definitely an upgrade). Despite Bernard and Mitch withdrawing from the fraternity, Frank maintains his ties and persists with his leadership in the organization.

 

. . .

 

This film is number 16 on Bravo's list of 100 funniest movies.

 

[knightni]

This is what happens when you f*** a stranger in the ass!

 

12. The Big Lebowski (1998)

 

 

(8 of 23 lists - 91 points - highest ranking #1 TheBones)

 

The Big Lebowski is a 1998 American comedy film written by Joel and Ethan Coen and directed by Joel Coen. The film follows a few days in the life of Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges), a burned-out, unemployed Californian slacker, after he is mistaken for a millionaire with the same name. While The Big Lebowski is not directly based on Raymond Chandler's novel The Big Sleep, Joel Coen has said that "[we] wanted to do a Chandler kind of story – how it moves episodically, and deals with the characters trying to unravel a mystery. As well as having a hopelessly complex plot that's ultimately unimportant."

 

Set in 1991, Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) is surprised by two thugs in his home in Venice, California, attempting to collect a debt Lebowski's supposed wife owes to Jackie Treehorn (Ben Gazzara). After the thugs rough up the Dude and urinate on his rug, which, in the words of the Dude and his friends, "really tied the room together," the Dude points out that they're looking for a different person of the same name. The next day, the Dude seeks compensation for his rug from the other Jeffrey Lebowski, the titular "Big" Lebowski, a wheelchair-bound millionaire, who gruffly refuses. After craftily stealing one of the Big Lebowski's rugs, the Dude meets Bunny Lebowski (Tara Reid), the Big Lebowski's nymphomaniacal trophy wife on his way off the property.

 

Days later, the Big Lebowski contacts the Dude, revealing that Bunny has been kidnapped and asks him to act as a courier for the million-dollar ransom, the Dude being in the unique position of being able to identify the rug-soiling thugs, the suspected kidnappers. Back at his apartment, the Dude naps on his new, stolen rug, only to have his apartment burgled again, the criminals knocking him unconscious. Following a musical dream sequence, the Dude wakes up on his bare wooden floor, his new rug missing. Soon after, when Bunny's kidnappers call to arrange the ransom exchange, Walter Sobchak (John Goodman), the Dude's unstable bowling teammate, convinces the Dude to keep the money and gives the kidnappers a "ringer" suitcase filled with dirty underwear. The exchange is bungled however and the kidnappers escape, at which point they decide, "f*** it, let's go bowling." Later that night, the Dude's car is stolen, along with the briefcase filled with money. The Dude receives a message from the Big Lebowski's daughter, Maude (Julianne Moore), who admits to stealing the Dude's rug which he stole from the "Big" Lebowski's home, as it has sentimental value for her. At her art studio, she explains that Bunny is a porn starlet working under producer Jackie Treehorn and confirms the Dude's suspicion that Bunny probably kidnapped herself, identifying her likely accomplices as a trio of German nihilists led by Uli Kunkel (Peter Stormare), a pornographic actor with the stage name "Karl Hungus" who has worked with Bunny in the past. She asks the Dude to recover the ransom, as it was illegally withdrawn by her father from a family-run charitable foundation for orphans, offering him a finder's fee in exchange for his services.

 

The Big Lebowski angrily confronts the Dude over his failure to hand over the money. The Dude claims that he made the pay-off as agreed, but the Big Lebowski responds by handing the Dude an envelope sent to him by the kidnappers which contains a severed toe, presumably Bunny's.

 

The Dude is enjoying a relaxing bath when he receives a message that his car has been found. Mid-message, the three German nihilists invade the Dude's apartment, interrogating him for the ransom money. After they leave, amidst ominous warnings, the Dude retrieves his car but finds the briefcase missing. Based on evidence found in the front seat of his car, the Dude and Walter track down the supposed thief, which turns out to be a stubborn teenager. Upon returning home without any clue about the whereabouts of the ransom money, Jackie Treehorn's thugs return to bring the Dude to Treehorn's beach house in Malibu, where Treehorn inquires about the whereabouts of Bunny. When the Dude confesses he has no such information, Treehorn drugs the Dude's drink and he passes out, leading to a second, more elaborate dream sequence, starting as the opening credits of a movie named "Gutterballs". Upon awakening once again, the Dude finds himself in a police car and then in front of the sheriff of Malibu, who berates him for coming to Malibu and ruining the peace. The Dude arrives home and is greeted by Maude Lebowski, who hopes to conceive a child with him. During post-coital conversation with Maude, the Dude finds out that, despite appearances, her father has no money of his own, as Maude's late mother was the rich one, and she left her money exclusively to the family charity. In a flash, the Dude unravels the whole scheme: When the Big Lebowski heard that Bunny was kidnapped, he used it as a pretense for an embezzlement scheme, in which he withdrew the ransom money from the family charity, kept it for himself, gave an empty briefcase to the Dude (who would be the fall guy on whom he pinned the theft), and was content to let the kidnappers kill Bunny.

 

Meanwhile, it has by now become clear that the kidnapping was itself a ruse. While Bunny took an unannounced trip, the nihilists (her friends) alleged a kidnapping in order to get money from her husband. (It is left unclear whether and to what extent Bunny was an active collaborator in this scheme). The Dude and Walter arrive at the Big Lebowski residence, finding Bunny back at home, having returned from her trip. They confront the Big Lebowski with their version of the events, which he counters but does not deny. The affair apparently over, the Dude and his bowling teammates are once again confronted by the nihilists, who have set the Dude's car on fire. They are still demanding the million dollars, despite the fact that the Dude does not have the money and Bunny has not even been kidnapped. Walter viciously fights them off, biting and severing an ear out of one of them, but their third teammate, Donny (Steve Buscemi), suffers a fatal heart attack. They take his ashes to a beach, where Walter offers a lengthy eulogy complete with Vietnam War references. He scatters Donny's ashes, but a gust of wind blows much of the ashes onto the Dude's face. Upset, the Dude lashes out at Walter. Walter apologizes and hugs the Dude, before suggesting, "f*** it, man. Let's go bowling." As the movie nears its end, the Dude sums up his situation and philosophy with the phrase, "The Dude abides".

 

. . .

 

The Dude is mostly inspired by Jeff Dowd, a member of the Seattle Seven, and a friend of the Coen brothers, Pete Exline, a Vietnam War veteran. Walter (John Goodman), the Dude's best friend, was based on a good friend of Exline's named Lew Abernathy, and on John Milius, who was a fellow veteran and filmmaker.

 

Steve Palopoli wrote about the film's emerging cult status in July 2002.[32] He first realized that the film had a cult following when he attended a midnight screening in 2000 at the New Beverly Cinema in L.A. Palopoli witnessed people quoting dialogue from the film to each other.

 

Lebowski fest

 

An annual festival, the Lebowski Fest, began in Louisville, Kentucky in 2002 with 150 fans showing up, and has since expanded to several other cities.[34] The Festival's main event each year is a night of unlimited bowling with various contests including costume, trivia, hardest and farthest traveled contests. Held over a weekend, events typically include a pre-fest party with bands the night before the bowling event as well as a day long outdoor party with bands, vendor booths, games. Various celebrities from the film have even attended some of the events, including Jeff Bridges attending the Los Angeles event.[34] The British equivalent, inspired by Lebowski Fest, is known as The Dude Abides and is held in London.

[Felix]

The Big Lebowski should be higher than 12, which is really a testament to how hilarious that movie actually is.

[Kalapse]

The Big Lebowski should be higher than 12, which is really a testament to how hilarious that movie actually is.

John Goodman's best performance, his exchanges with Buscemi are pure gold.

[knightni]

Oh, we got both kinds. We got country *and* western.

 

11. The Blues Brothers (1980)

 

 

(9 of 23 lists - 98 points - highest ranking #3 CanOfCorn, BigEdWalsh)

 

The Blues Brothers is a 1980 musical comedy directed by John Landis and starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as "Joliet" Jake and Elwood Blues, characters developed from a "Saturday Night Live" musical sketch. It features musical numbers by R&B and soul legends James Brown, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and John Lee Hooker, and epic car chase scenes.

 

The story is a tale of redemption for paroled convict Jake and his brother Elwood, who take on "a mission from God" to save the Roman Catholic orphanage in which they grew up from foreclosure. To do so they must re-form their rhythm and blues band, the Blues Brothers, and organize a performance to earn $5,000 to pay the tax assessor. Along the way they are targeted by a destructive "mystery woman," Neo-Nazis, and a country and western band – all while being relentlessly pursued by the police, and eventually the military and a SWAT team.

 

The film is set in and around Chicago, Illinois, and also features non-musical supporting performances by John Candy, Carrie Fisher and Henry Gibson.

 

"Joliet Jake" Blues is released from Joliet Prison into his brother Elwood's custody after serving a sentence for armed robbery. Jake is irritated at being picked up in a battered former police car instead of the Cadillac the brothers used to own, but is mollified when Elwood demonstrates the "new" Bluesmobile's powers by vaulting it over an open drawbridge.

 

Over Jake's protests, they visit their childhood home, a Roman Catholic orphanage. They learn the institution will be shut down unless $5,000 in property taxes can be paid. Jake indicates they can quickly obtain the funds, but the orphanage director, a nun known as "The Penguin", emphatically refuses to accept any stolen money from the brothers. She drives them out, and tells them not to return until they have redeemed themselves. At the prompting of Curtis, the elderly orphanage worker who introduced the duo to the blues, the brothers visit a lively evangelical church service where Jake has an epiphany: they can legitimately raise the funds by re-forming their legendary rhythm and blues band.

 

As they head home, Elwood's driving attracts the attention of two Illinois State Police troopers named Daniels and Mount. Elwood proceeds to both escape and earn the officers' undying enmity by driving through a shopping mall. Arriving at the flophouse which Elwood calls home, the brothers also suffer a bazooka attack launched by a "Mystery Woman;" she reappears at regular intervals throughout the rest of the film to launch more similarly-unsuccessful assaults.

 

The brothers begin tracking down members of the band. The core rhythm section of the group is found playing in an empty Holiday Inn lounge, and is fairly easily convinced to rejoin. Trumpet player "Mr. Fabulous", now maître d' at a high-class French restaurant, is harder to sway, but Jake and Elwood gleefully proceed to make a ghastly spectacle of themselves, swilling the restaurant's food and drink and harassing the other patrons. When they threaten to repeat this performance at every meal, Mr. Fabulous gives in.

 

En route to meet guitar player Matt "Guitar" Murphy and sax player "Blue Lou" Marini, the brothers disrupt the neo-Nazi rally of the American Socialist White People's Party ("The Illinois Nazis,"),[2] adding another bitter enemy to the brothers' rapidly-growing list. Murphy and Marini are at the soul food restaurant which Matt owns with his wife. Against her emphatic advice, Matt and Lou walk out and rejoin the band. The reunited group obtains instruments and equipment from a pawn shop, Ray's Music Exchange.

 

Jake leads the skeptical band out into the countryside and stumbles into a gig at Bob's Country Bunker, a bar which features "both kinds of music: country and western." After a rocky start, the band wins over the bottle-tossing crowd with the theme from Rawhide and "Stand By Your Man". At the end of the evening, however, not only is their bar tab greater than the pay for the gig, the band that was actually meant to play turns up: a Nashville group called the Good Ol' Boys. Jake and Elwood escape the Good Ol' Boys and Bob thanks to the fortuitous reappearance of Daniels and Mount.

 

The Blues Brothers blackmail their booking agent friend Maury Sline to land their big gig – a performance at the Palace Hotel Ballroom, located 100 miles north of Chicago. After being driven all over the area promoting the concert, the Bluesmobile runs out of gas, making Jake and Elwood very late. The ballroom is packed, the concert-goers are joined by the Good Ol' Boys, troopers Daniel and Mount, and scores of other police officers. To settle the crowd, Curtis appears and performs a magical version of "Minnie the Moocher" with the band. Jake and Elwood finally sneak into the venue and perform two songs. With the help of a record executive, they legitimately earn the money they need and slip through the police cordon.

 

As the brothers escape via some grimy service tunnels, they are confronted one last time by the Mystery Woman, whereupon it is revealed she is Jake's brutally-jilted ex-fiancée. She threatens them with an M16 rifle, but Jake charms her, kisses her, then unceremoniously drops her in the muck, allowing the two brothers to escape to the Bluesmobile. They hit the road back to Chicago with the entire "Illinois law enforcement community" and the Good Ol' Boys in close pursuit. The brothers eventually elude them all, leaving massive pileups of cars in their wake.

 

After a gravity-defying escape from the Illinois Nazis, Jake and Elwood arrive at the Richard J. Daley Center, where the Bluesmobile literally falls to pieces. Finding the office of the Cook County Assessor, they discover a sign saying "Back in 5 minutes". As they wait, the building is stormed by hundreds of police, firefighters, and Illinois National Guardsmen. An assessor clerk finally appears, and the brothers pay the tax bill. Just as their receipt is stamped, handcuffs are placed on their wrists, and they turn to face a sea of armed law officers. As the film ends, Jake, Elwood and the rest of the band are back in prison, where they play "Jailhouse Rock" for their fellow inmates.

 

. . .

 

The characters, Jake and Elwood Blues, were created by John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd in performances on Saturday Night Live. The fictional back story and character sketches of blood brothers Jake and Elwood were developed by Aykroyd in collaboration with Ron Gwynne, who is credited as a story consultant for the film. As related in the liner notes of the band's debut album, Briefcase Full of Blues, the brothers grew up in an orphanage, learned the blues from a janitor named Curtis and sealed their brotherhood by cutting their middle fingers with a steel string said to have come from the guitar of Elmore James.

 

The Cook County Assessor at the end of the movie, is none other than film director Stephen Spielberg.

 

Much of the film was shot on location in and around Chicago, Illinois between July and October of 1979.[6] Made with the cooperation of Mayor Jane M. Byrne, it is credited for putting Chicago on the radar as a venue for filmmaking. Mayor Richard J. Daley had all but prevented movies from being produced there up until his death in 1976. This is alluded to in a line by Mr. Fabulous, when he said, "No, sir, Mayor Daley no longer dines here. He's dead, sir." Since then, nearly 200 movies have been filmed in Chicago.

 

In the final car chase scene, the production actually dropped a Ford Pinto, representing the one driven by the "Illinois Nazis," from a helicopter at an altitude of more than a mile — and had to gain a special "air-unworthiness" certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration to do it.[10] The FAA was concerned that the car could prove too aerodynamic in a high-altitude drop, and pose a threat to nearby buildings. The shot leading up to the car drop, where the "Illinois Nazis" drive off a freeway ramp, was shot in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Interstate 794. The Lake Freeway (North) was a planned but not completed 6-lane freeway and I-794 contained an unfinished ramp that the Nazis drove off.[11] Several Milwaukee skyscrapers are visible in the background as the Bluesmobile flips over, notably the US Bank Center.

 

The filming in downtown Chicago was conducted on Sundays during the summer of 1979, and much of the downtown was cordoned off from the public. Although the Bluesmobile was allowed to be driven through the Daley Center lobby, special breakaway panes were temporarily substituted for the normal glass in the building.

 

The movie has a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[17] It won the Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing and Sound Effects,[18] is No. 14 on Total Film magazine's "List of the 50 Greatest Comedy Films of All Time"[19] and is No. 69 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies".[20]

[knightni]

I'll start the top 10 around noon or so.

[knightni]

Brian Fantana: They've done studies, you know. 60% of the time it works, every time.

[cheesy grin]

Ron Burgundy: That doesn't make sense.

 

10. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)

 

 

(8 of 23 lists - 100 points - highest ranking #1 knightni)

 

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy is a comedy film which was released on July 9, 2004. It was written by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. The film is a tongue-in-cheek take on the culture of the 1970s, particularly the then-new Action News television-program format. It portrays a San Diego TV station where one female reporter (Applegate) struggles to become the first "Anchorwoman".

 

Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell), is San Diego's finest anchorman who works along with his friends and co-reporters, Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), who works as the lead field reporter, Champion "Champ" Kind (David Koechner), who works in the sports section and with Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), in the weather report, at Channel 4 News. After a successful day of work, the team are notified that their show has reached number 1 in San Diego ratings, leading them to throw a wild party (even though Garth Holladay (Chris Parnell), Ron's assistant, asked them not to) . During the party Ron sees a woman and attempts to seduce her, but fails miserably. The next day, Channel 4's owner, Ed Harken (Fred Willard), is forced to bring a female worker onto the team and hires Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), a news reporter transfered from Ashville, North Carolina who turns out to be the woman from the party the previous night. Brick, Champ and Brian attempt to seduce Veronica using inept and arrogant flirting, but they all fail. Ron ends up asking her out politely on a date and she accepts. During their date, Ron starts playing the Jazz Flute in his friend Tino (Fred Armisen)'s club. After a change of heart, Veronica goes to Ron's house and has sex with him. The next day Ron proudly announces dating Veronica and having sex with her. After leaving work from a great field announcement of Lin-King the panda in San Diego zoo being pregnant, the news team has a confrontation with Wes Mantooth (Vince Vaughn) and his news team.

 

The next day Ron heads for work when he throws a burrito out his car window and hits a motorcyclist (Jack Black), in the head, knocking him off his bike. The motorcyclist gets angry because Ron destroyed the only thing he loved (his bike) and destroys one of the things Ron loves by punting Ron's dog Baxter off a bridge and into the river. A depressed and horribly saddened and crying Ron calls Brian through a payphone to tell him about Baxter, where Brian tells Ron to rush to the studio, since they are going to put Veronica as an anchorwoman to fill in for Ron. Despite Ron's efforts to arrive early, they put Veronica in the news and she becomes famous.

 

When Ron arrives he has an argument with Veronica about the situation and they break up. The next day, Veronica is made co-anchor, much to Ron's displeasure. When walking back home from the station, the team is confronted yet again by Wes Mantooth and his team and after pulling weapons out of nowhere they prepare to start fighting. However just as they prepare to fight, more news teams arrive, including the Channel 2 news led by Frank Fitchard (Luke Wilson), the Noticias Españolas news team led by Arturo Mendez (Ben Stiller), and the public news team led by an unnamed man (Tim Robbins). After the fight the team returns to the studio to hide from the cops who arrive at the scene and when Veronica tries to apolgize, Ron just turns her down.

 

While in a restaurant, one of Veronica's friends tells her that Ron will read anything that's placed into this teleprompter, no matter what it is, so Veronica sneaks into the station and changes the words in Ron's teleprompter. The next day, Ron reads the words that Veronica changed, which makes him say on the air, "Go f*** yourself San Diego". After saying this a huge angry mob gathers around the studio and Ed is forced to fire Ron, Veronica tries to apologize to Ron because she did this to him but just screams that she is a "heartless b**** demon!" as he is dragged out of the studio by security.

 

Three months later Ron is unemployed, has no friends and is a drunk, while Veronica has become extremely famous. When Lin-King the panda is about to give birth all the news teams head for the zoo to cover the story, but in an attempt to sabotage her, the public news anchor pushes Veronica into the grizzly bear cage, where she is forced to stay silent or the bears will attack her. When Ed can't find Veronica he calls the bar ran by a Mexican man (Danny Trejo), where Ron is and Ron accepts to take her place, after blowing the "News Horn", Ron is reunited with his team and they go to the zoo. Once in the zoo, the team finds Veronica and Ron jumps into the cage to save her; this attracts everyone else in the zoo to watch. The channel 4 news team jumps in to help Ron and they have a "bear fight", where they are easily beaten. Just as the mama bear is about to rip them apart, Baxter, who was seen to emerge from a river in Milwaukee when Ron blew the news horn, shows up and convinces the bear to leave Ron and the team alone.

 

After an emotive scene where Ron and Veronica decide to start dating again it's shown that in two years, Brian becomes the host of a FOX Network reality named "Intercourse Island", Brick is George W. Bush's political campaign adviser, Champ is a commentator for the NFL before sexually harassing Terry Bradshaw and Ron and Veronica are co-anchor's for "World News".

 

. . .

 

During an interview before the release of Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Ferrell said Anchorman and Talladega Nights are the first two installments of his Mediocre American Man Trilogy. Ferrell and the director of both movies, Adam McKay, have stated that the last installment will be rated R, unlike the previous two installments. Ideas have ranged from Ferrell playing a CEO to him playing an astronaut, but McKay has said that the new idea that they are leaning to is even better.

 

This film is number 100 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies".

 

The Mexican restaurant Veronica visits with the girls from the station is named "Escupimos en su Alimento". In Spanish, that means, "We spit in your food".

 

The music during the news team battle was the same as the battle music from Spartacus, this sequence also features a Wilhelm scream when Champ throws another man into a car window.

 

Unrated version

 

In the unrated version of Anchorman, there are some scenes that were not shown in the theaters. Some of these found their way into Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie. They are:

 

* The scene that Ron has an erection in the office in front of Veronica is extended in the unrated version with Ron "walking it off."

* A scene where Ron imagines that he and Veronica are married and shows them making out in front of their children.

* A scene showing Ron, on the air talking how he is proud of his 'mane' of pubic hair.

* An alternate conversation after the party, where Champ Kind talks about s***ting a live squirrel. Then Brick Tamland tells Champ that he ate his chocolate squirrel.

* The extended version of Ron being dragged out of the station into an angry mob after saying the word f*** on the news. He says "f***" many more times in this extended version.

* Ron goes to Tino's (the restaurant where Ron took Veronica out and played jazz flute) after the "f***" incident and the owner of the restaurant forces him to eat "cat poop" before Tino brings him a steak. Ron eats some of the cat feces but is making such a scene that he is disturbing other restaurant patrons.

 

The film Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie, was released straight to DVD in 2004, which includes alternate scenes containing much of the original plot. The "alternate film" was never released in theaters due to negative responses from test audiences, a common complaint being the inclusion of a terrorism-related subplot.

[knightni]

"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!"

 

9. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

 

(7 of 23 lists - 107 points - highest ranking #1 TexSox, BigEdWalsh, southsidehawkeye)

 

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (aka Dr. Strangelove) (1964) is a black comedy film directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Peter Sellers and George C. Scott. Loosely based by screenwriter Terry Southern on Peter George's Cold War thriller novel Red Alert (aka Two Hours to Doom), Dr. Strangelove satirizes the Cold War and the doctrine of mutual assured destruction.

 

The story concerns a mentally unstable US Air Force general who orders a first strike nuclear attack on the Soviet Union, and follows the President of the United States, his advisors, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a Royal Air Force (RAF) officer as they try to recall the bombers to prevent a nuclear apocalypse, as well as the crew of one B-52 as they attempt to deliver their payload.

 

Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) is a delusional commander of a United States Air Force base who initiates a plan to attack the Soviet Union with nuclear weapons, hoping to thwart a Communist conspiracy to "sap and impurify" the "precious bodily fluids" of the American people with fluoridated water, which he believes has caused his impotence.

 

Ripper orders the nuclear armed B-52s of the 843rd Bomb Wing past their failsafe points – where they normally hold awaiting possible orders to proceed – and into Soviet airspace. He also tells the personnel of Burpelson Air Force Base that the US and the USSR have entered into a "shooting war." Although a nuclear attack should require Presidential authority to be initiated, Ripper uses "Plan R", an emergency war plan to enable a senior officer to launch a retaliation strike against the Soviets if the normal chain of command, including the President, has been killed during a sneak attack. Plan R was intended to discourage the Soviets from launching a decapitation strike against the President in Washington, D.C. to disrupt U.S. command and control and stop an American nuclear counterattack.

 

Group Captain Lionel Mandrake (Peter Sellers), a Royal Air Force exchange officer serving as General Ripper's executive officer, realizes that there is no attack on the U.S. when he turns on a radio and hears pop music instead of Civil Defense alerts. Mandrake attempts to recall the wing, but Ripper refuses to disclose the three-letter code necessary for recalling the bombers.

 

In the War Room at the Pentagon, Air Force General Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott), briefs President Merkin Muffley (also played by Sellers). Turgidson tries to take advantage of the situation to convince Muffley to launch a full-scale attack on the Soviets. Turgidson believes that the United States is in a superior strategic position, and a first strike against the Soviet Union would destroy 90% of their missiles before they could retaliate, resulting in a victory for the U.S. with "acceptable" American casualties of "no more than 10 to 20 million killed, tops ... depending on the breaks."[1] He is shocked when Muffley instead admits the Soviet Ambassador to the War Room, contacts Soviet Premier Dmitri Kissoff on the hotline, and insists on giving the Soviets all the information necessary to shoot down the American planes before they can carry out their strikes.

 

The horrified Soviet Ambassador reveals that his country has constructed a doomsday device which will automatically destroy all life on Earth if a nuclear attack hits the Soviet Union. The Doomsday Device is operated by a network of computers and has been conceived as the ultimate deterrent. As a safeguard, it cannot be deactivated. Ironically, the Russians turned it on a few days before they were going to announce it publicly to the world.[2]

 

The President now calls upon Dr. Strangelove (a.k.a. Merkwürdigliebe), a former Nazi and strategy expert (Sellers in his third role). The wheelchair-bound Strangelove is a type of "mad scientist", whose eccentricities include a severe case of alien hand syndrome — his right hand, clad in an intimidating black leather glove, occasionally attempts to strangle Strangelove and shoots out the Nazi salute.[3] Strangelove explains the principles behind the Doomsday Device, which he says is "simple to understand... credible and convincing."

 

US Army troops sent by the President arrive at Burpelson to arrest General Ripper. Because Ripper has warned his men that the enemy might attack disguised as American soldiers, the base's security forces open fire on them.[4] The Army forces win the battle and gain access to the base, and Ripper commits suicide. Colonel "Bat" Guano (Keenan Wynn) shoots his way into Ripper's office, and suspects that Mandrake, whose uniform he doesn't recognize, is leading a mutiny of "deviated preverts" [sic] and wants to arrest him. Mandrake convinces Guano that he has to call the President to tell him the recall code, which he has deduced from Ripper's desk blotter doodles to be based on the initials for PEACE ON EARTH and PURITY OF ESSENCE.

 

The code is issued to the planes, and those that have not been shot down return to base – except that the Soviets announce that one B-52 has not been downed as they had previously reported.[5] Damaged by a Soviet anti-aircraft missile, the plane is now flying below Soviet radar. Unable to receive the recall code, due to damage to the plane's radio equipment, and leaking fuel at an increased rate, the crew proceeds on its own initiative to a "target of opportunity," as they had insufficient fuel to reach either their primary or secondary targets. Soviet forces (at the urging of the US President) are clustered around the two known targets.

 

As they start their bomb run, the damaged B-52's bomb bay doors jam, and in forcing them open, the aircraft commander, Major "King" Kong (Slim Pickens) rides a nuclear bomb to the ground like a cowboy in the rodeo, whooping and hollering as he plummets to the ground with the bomb between his legs.

 

The bomb explodes, triggering the Doomsday Machine; according to the Soviet ambassador, life on Earth's surface will be extinct in ten months. Dr. Strangelove recommends to the President that a group of about 200,000 people be relocated into a deep mine shaft, where the nuclear fallout cannot reach them, so that the U.S. can be repopulated afterwards. Because of space limitations, Strangelove suggests a gender ratio of "ten females to each male", with the women selected for their sexual characteristics, and the men selected on the basis of their physical strength, intellectual capabilities, and importance in business and the government. General Turgidson rants that the Soviets will likely create an even better bunker than the U.S., and argues that America "must not allow a mine shaft gap." Meanwhile, the Soviet Ambassador retreats to a corner of the War Room and starts taking pictures with a spy camera disguised as a pocket watch.

 

In the concluding scenes, a visibly excited Strangelove bolts out of his wheelchair shouting 'Mein Führer, I can walk!', mere seconds before the film ends with a barrage of nuclear explosions, accompanied by Vera Lynn's famous World War II song 'We'll Meet Again'.[6]

. . .

 

In 1989, the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. Additionally, it was listed as #3 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs.

 

Ultimately, Peter Sellers played three of the four roles initially written for him. At the start of production, it was expected that he would also play the role of Air Force Major T. J. "King" Kong, the B-52 Stratofortress aircraft commander, but from the beginning, Sellers was reluctant to do so. He felt that his workload was too heavy, and he was concerned that he would not be able to reproduce the Texan accent required for the character of Kong. Kubrick pleaded with him, and asked screenwriter Terry Southern (who had been raised in Texas) to record a tape with Kong's lines spoken in the correct accent. Using Southern's tape, Sellers managed to get the accent right, and started shooting the scenes in the airplane. However, Sellers sprained an ankle and could not play the role, as technical constraints would have confined him to the cramped space of the cockpit set.

 

As it turns out, Slim Pickens had never left the United States. He had to hurry and get his first passport. He arrived on the set, and somebody said, "Gosh, he's arrived in costume!," not realizing that that's how he always dressed... with the cowboy hat and the fringed jacket and the cowboy boots—and that he wasn't putting on the character—that's the way he talked.

 

Dr. Strangelove was listed as #26 on the American Film Institute's 100 Years, 100 Movies (#39 on the 10th Anniversary Edition) and #3 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs. Sellers' line "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!" made #64 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes.

 

The film has also been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted it the 24th greatest comedy film of all time. It is one of the films to have received a 100% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and it is ranked 15th top movie of all time on TopTenReviews Movies. In addition to this, the movie is ranking #5 in the All-Time High Scores chart of Metacritic's Video/DVD section with an average score of 96.[31]

 

Roger Ebert has Dr. Strangelove in his list of Great Movies,[32] saying it is 'arguably the best political satire of the century.'

 

The popular JibJab video "this Land", a parody of the Woodie Guthrie tune of the same name, shows President George W Bush's face superimposed over Major Kong's while he falls down to the ground riding a nuclear missle.